RCB face MI in a crucial top of the table clash

The road to the playoffs starts here. With the tournament on its last leg of group stages with 3 matches left, almost every team has something to play for. For the Royal Challengers Bangalore, the first of those three games will provide a perfect test of where they stand. A win for either team will more or less guarantee a top 4 spot, while a loss would create a few unwanted jitters.

RCB will not have any major worries to address as they head into their final 3 games of the league stage. Although the team could not find the acceleration they were looking for at the death, it can be written off as a bad day in the office. However, there were encouraging signs with the top order continuing their consistent form, the openers yet again giving a solid start before the middle order laid the foundation for a late-innings flourish.

RCB’s Indian bowling contingent of Mohammed Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Navdeep Saini, Yuzvendra Chahal, and Washington Sundar have all made it to the Indian contingent that will be touring down under next month, and that is a testament to how well they have performed over the past 5 weeks. Add to that Chris Morris, and there’s no surprise as to why RCB find themselves fighting for a top two finish

The Mumbai Indians have been equally impressive. They have so far lost only two games without the game heading into a Super over. Boasting of a well-rounded batting lineup with finishers who can resurrect the innings from any situation and depth till number eight makes them a scary opposition. The fitness of skipper Rohit Sharma will be their only cause of concern. Their bowling has proved to be difficult to get away, the game against RCB in the first leg and the previous game against RR being the only aberrations in a consistently impressive season.

With the tracks tiring in Dubai, RCB will be happy to head to Abu Dhabi where the pitches have proved to have more bounce. Mohammed Siraj will return to the venue where he ran through the KKR top order. Better bounce will mean RCB’s batsmen will also enjoy the conditions in Abu Dhabi better.

Match Details 

Date: Sunday, 25 October.

Venue: Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi

Time: 7:30 PM (IST)

Form Guide 

Royal Challengers Bangalore - WLWWL

Mumbai Indians - WWLWL

Squads 

RCB: Virat Kohli, Parthiv Patel, AB de Villiers, Chris Morris, Yuzvendra Chahal, Shivam Dube, Aaron Finch, Umesh Yadav, Adam Zampa, Washington Sundar, Navdeep Saini, Mo Siraj, Dale Steyn, Moeen Ali, Pawan Negi, Gurkeerat Mann Singh, Isuru Udana, Devdutt Padikkal, Shahbaz Ahmed, Joshua Philippe, Pavan Deshpande.

MI: Rohit Sharma, Trent Boult, Rahul Chahar, Quinton de Kock, Ishaan Kishan, Chris Lynn, Mohsin Khan, Krunal Pandya, Kieron Pollard, Anukul Roy, Aditya Tare, Jayant Yadav, Suryakumar Yadav, Saurabh Tiwary, Sherfane Rutherford, Prince Balwant Rai, James Pattinson, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Hardik Pandya, Mitchell McClenaghan, Dhawal Kulkarni, Digvijay Deshmukh, Anmolpreet Singh, Jasprit Bumrah